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Without an equivalent of 2013's crazy Super Bowl blackout that sparked Oreo's iconic "dunk in the dark," last night's game was more about consistent creativity than unforgettable moments.
But that's not to say it was a dry night. New England defeated Seattle 28-24 in a thrilling, down-to-the-wire contest, and plenty of marketers either displayed strong real-time marketing chops or gained retweetable traction by posting at opportune times.
Some brands built social buzz in a positive way (Doritos and McDonald's), other mentions came at the brand's expense (Nationwide), and yet more moments—good and bad, mind you—arrived with little effort from the marketer at all (Esurance and Reebok).
Let's start off with the more inspiring kinds of real-time concoctions.
When New England's Malcolm Butler picked off a pass by Russell Wilson at the goal line to win the game for the Patriots, Cheerios' real-time practitioners were equally as clutch.
Everyone's mouth right now: pic.twitter.com/cZjfD42kgK
— Cheerios (@cheerios) February 2, 2015Skittles, which has long been known to be very active on social, added a subtle multimedia twist to its tweet after Seattle's Marshawn Lynch scored a touchdown to give the ill-fated Seahawks a 24-14 lead.
YASS! @MoneyLynch FOR THE TOUCHDOWN! #sponsor#moreawesomerpic.twitter.com/VqAJsWR341
— Skittles (@Skittles) February 2, 2015A tip of the cap goes to Denny's, which made light about the multiple-player scrum that took place right before the end of Super Bowl XLIX.
even if you get EJECTED you will still be ACCEPTED at denny's diner 2nite
— Denny's (@DennysDiner) February 2, 2015Audi played off its Big Game spot beautifully here, though its coy stick figure shrug might have been what really got the retweets going.
Another satisfied customer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ http://t.co/HnVpPIMusQ#Audipic.twitter.com/avc975SqHu
— Audi (@Audi) February 1, 2015Loctite, a glue marketer and first time Big Game player, called out a traditional Super Bowl advertiser that was buying a ton of Promoted Tweets, essentially stealing other brands' thunder.
Hey, @BUDWEISER! Stop bidding on our ad keywords. Love, Loctite
— Loctite Glue (@LoctiteGlue) February 2, 2015There were also more fun brand-on-brand instances from names like Lenovo, Charmin, Coke and Doritos. All in all, there were more brands tweeting at one another than in any Big Game to date.
Hey @Budweiser - our puppy would like to be #bestbuds with your puppy. Call us? Let's #breaktheinternethttps://t.co/txzzX3oQeI
— Lenovo United States (@lenovoUS) February 1, 2015@Charmin We know you like to #EnjoyTheGo. Why not go to http://t.co/8tFRlb2A7c. It's where to go to make the Internet happy. #MakeItHappy
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) February 2, 2015@Charmin We know you like to #EnjoyTheGo. Why not go to http://t.co/8tFRlb2A7c. It's where to go to make the Internet happy. #MakeItHappy
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) February 2, 2015
.@VictoriasSecret you floored us with your spot. Hire us next time? Here's our audition tape #DoritosSecrethttps://t.co/gWbgvl03Pl
— Doritos (@Doritos) February 2, 2015In another example, Doritos is referencing spots by Budweiser (puppies) and Nissan (dads) with this tweet.
The world asked what you wanted. You said puppies & you said dads. In #Doritos world, we said "ok, #puppydad it is!" https://t.co/HMEcu6o4D9
— Doritos (@Doritos) February 2, 2015And McDonald's tweeted at almost every Super Bowl advertiser in a constant stream of positive messaging that shared the spotlight with other brands.
Lovin' that lifetime of daddy-daughter time in @Toyota's powerful spot. RT & you could win a new 2015 Toyota Camry https://t.co/C6VUhE8fGy
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 2, 2015The way pop culture players mesh with marketers on Twitter is part of what makes the Super Bowl a kick. Here, the Harry Potter character Professor Snape had a pretty good bit of inspiration from Esurance's Big Game spot.
Walter White could probably teach Potions at Hogwarts if he wanted. #SuperBowI
— Professor Snape (@_Snape_) February 2, 2015Additionally, actor James Franco gave Reebok's spot a nice push.
Surrounded by distractions, but I'm inspired by the great #bemorehuman#adhttp://t.co/NPgZsOK1eq. Great job, @reebok
— James Franco (@JamesFrancoTV) February 1, 2015Procter & Gamble's #LikeAGirl TV commercial for Always was well supported on Twitter, seeing a healthy response in retweets.
Tonight we are changing the meaning of #LikeAGirl to mean downright amazing. Vote to get the word out. http://t.co/gW0Qj7GMfv
— Always (@Always) February 2, 2015And then JetBlue did a great job picking up on Always' hashtag, while Puffs and McDonald's also chimed in. Indeed, the brand-on-brand stuff just kept on coming last night.
Fly #LikeAGirl. pic.twitter.com/42tpWwY7WH
— JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) February 2, 2015
We want everyone to know.. Doing things #LikaAGirl can be AWESOME! Thanks @Always for reminding us! https://t.co/gnzX4mDuHe
— Puffs (@Puffs) February 2, 2015
Not just liking #likeagirl, @always, we're lovin' it. RT to try to win gym shoes, a baseball mitt & a punching bag https://t.co/rZ4UZBAeKr
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 2, 2015Lastly, pet-themed e-commerce player BarkBox had a couple humorous/topical tweets worth noting.
"I sniffed a butt and I liked it." - #KatyPerry#Halftime#SuperBowlpic.twitter.com/RlcsyVnIyH
— BarkBox (@barkbox) February 2, 2015
After #DeflateGate, I no longer trust balls that aren't mine. pic.twitter.com/s50vOCKMfd
— BarkBox (@barkbox) February 1, 2015